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Sunday, July 14, 2013

Acti-Tape, a tape that I had not heard or saw before only until recently when I went for the Acti-Tape workshop a month ago. After knowing the existence of this sports tape, I started to use it every time I experienced pain on my body. Read on to find out why I believe in Acti-Tape. ^_^

Acti-Tape has its origins in therapeutic tapes for rehabilitation of injuries, providing support to joints and muscles, and enhancing sports performance without affecting range of motion. The concept was initially developed in Japan in the late 1970’s. Nowadays aside from application in rehabilitation, newer methodologies have been developed that address benefits associated with preventive health maintenance, reducing edema and pain relief.

Acti-Tape Workshop
About a month ago, I attended Acti-Tape workshop by NutriWorks which was held at the NVPC (National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre).

NVPC is located at The Central, just above Clarke Quay Station.

Before entering the room, all attendees' hands were applied with 2 Acti-Tapes on their hands. My left hand with I-strip tape at maximum stretch and right hand with non-stretched I-strip. This will be explained later during the workshop.

*Sorry for the blur pics as my Canon camera started to lose focus and this was its last photo before it was sent for repair... ^_^"
What is I-strip? Basically it's just the tape itself when cut out, with the 4 corners rounded off to avoid the strips catching, lifting and therefore peeling off.
Well, here's a pic of the 4 patterned striped. You can achieve Y, X and Octopus patterns just by cutting the first I-strip. Here's the page to teach you how to do it.

See the wavy patterns on the tapes? They are actually the sticky side of the tape which adheres to our skin and yet provide maximum breathability, at same time also providing a gentle massage to our skin.

Some visuals for the attendees before the workshop starts.

Before Miss Amy Wong (founder of Acti-Tape also the trainer for the day) entered, the room was already filled with lots of people. Basically its full house! (Lucky me I reach earlier, got the best seat in the house. lolx~)
During the workshop, Amy taught us all the basic techniques of how to cut the tape, stretch it and stick it. Don't underestimate these basic knowledge as they help greatly in the way we use the tapes.
Without knowing how to do it, the tapes will not last longer than it should neither will it perform at its best.
She asked everyone to look at the I-strips that were applied onto our hand (Mine were done by Amy! ^^). The green I-strip with maximum stretch provides compression and helps support joints and muscle, for this case - our wrist. It has this pulling or rebound effect when I try to bend my wrist, kind of like assisting my muscle & joint in working my hand back to its natural position.
The red I-strip without stretch helps manage swelling and pain. When I bend my hand backwards, the tapes forms lots of creases. It is because the tape is lifting up the skin surface to reduce pressure on the nerves, creating better circulation and allowing easier body fluid flow under the area.
Amy also demonstrated on the participants who currently have pain on certain part of their body. After the workshop ended, there were so many people crowding round her waiting to ask her more questions. (Wow! Feels like she's a star! ^^)

If you are interested to join for the Acti-Tape workshop, do visit my other blog post for more details.

About Amy Wong
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Amy graduated with a First Class honors Degree in Religious Studies and Music. She earned herself a fully funded scholarship to attain her Masters Degree in Education at the University of Sussex in England and as well on her way to lucrative executive position.

But Amy soon discovers that her true calling is in fitness and healthcare. A staunch fitness enthusiast, she combines her love for healthcare and interacting with people into a core business ideal - a product that relieves pain in an effective and cumbersome free way. These are the core ingredients behind Acti-Tape."We didn't come up with Acti-Tape because it's a great product for sportsmen. We decided to make it because there are a lot of people in the general public who are in pain and in need of a solution."

Venturing into the health industry presented unfathomable challenges. Like all startups, Amy found herself faced with an immense amount of risk involved in a highly competitive industry. In order to develop a quality product that sets itself apart from the rest, Amy stood by her belief - putting the consumers' needs first.
"We came across tons of users who were in search of remedies to manage their pain and treat their long-term conditions."
Acti-Tape surpasses the functions of regular sports tape and is designed to care for its users on a long-term basis, enabling them to "be active and stay alive".
Simple designing a consumer friendly product was not enough. True to form, Amy foresaw the need to educate Acti-Tape users to the different means and methods of its application.

Complimentary from Acti-Tape:
At the end of the workshop, I received the following:- Acti-Tape 5cmx1m tape (Pink)- Fexi-Patch x 1pc(Shown at the bottom of this post)- Acti-Tape 5cmx15cm trial tape
- Acti-Tape 5cmx5m tape (Black)

About Acti-Tape
The idea for the elastic therapeutic sport tape (Kinseiology Tape) was developed by a Japanese Chiropractor who trained in the United States. The concept was conceived in the early 1970's and over time this concept has been developed into a specialized tape that aids the body in healing itself.
The basic premise is that movement and maintaining activity in muscles is necessary for recovery. Various versions of tapes were developed to support muscles without restricting movement or range of motion. It was also assumed that muscles affected blood circulation. Tape that is applied on stretched skin has been found to be very useful in reducing localized swelling associated with surgery, orthopedic or sports injuries, and acute trauma. It has also been found to be beneficial in the treatment of lymphedema. The combination of technique and tape can create unique effects on different body systems by supporting the elastic qualities of body tissues such as the skin and muscles. It has been used effectively in Asia for over 20 years and was introduced in the USA in 1995.
The use of elastic therapeutic sports tape (also sometimes known as kinesiology tape) has already helped countless athletes maintain physical excellence even when subject to extremely harsh training regimes and intensive sports events.

Acti-Tape's Features
Special Features of Acti-Tape to help you relieve pain and enjoy a better life.
- Water Resistant
┖▷ Can withstand showers and athletic activity like swimming.
- Highly Breathable
┖▷ Efficiently channels air and sweat to maintain skin integrity.
- Highly Flexible
┖▷ Allows muscles to perform a full range of motion, easily and comfortably.
- Latex free, hypoallergenic.
- Effective for 3-4 days

Packaging
This packaging is designed to act as a dispenser for the tape. While the roll of tape is inside the box, the end of the tape can be pulled out from the top corner of the box without making a mess (like pulling toilet paper? hahax.. ^_^") .

The box also indicates the colour of the tape like so.

Pink is so hot pink! Lovely for the ladies~

Black tapes are good when you want a little more heat on the area where you apply. When light shines on black, it is fully absorbed and convert into energy thereby giving off heat. While other colours will reflect light therefore they don't feel as warm as the black does. That's also why when you wear black, you feel warmer/hotter. ^_^

ReviewMy first attempt on Acti-Taping was on my man who kept complaining to me that the muscles around his left shoulder hurts, even way before I knew about Acti-Tape. Last time he would usually massage himself with his right hand (touching left shoulder) and apply the sore muscle gel or get me to massage for him at times, but that does not provide a long-term cure nor does it relief his pain much.

Since I'm not a sensei and I don't really understand much about body parts.. I had to trial and error. (lolx~) But not to worry, as what Amy Wong mentioned, the Acti-Tape is very safe. We can 'play' with the tape all we want so that we can get the right application method that achieves the best result we need.

Upon browsing Acti-Tape's website, I saw that there is an application for Trapezius Muscle pain and I googled it. I think this has the closest description to what my man told me. He had shoulder pain, neck pain (when he turns his head) and slight pain on his back.

Following the youtube video from Acti-Tape's website, I applied the tape on him. A little off-track I suppose? ^_^" But still ok yah?

I had difficulty in gaging how much tape I need when I cut. But after a few trials, I got the hang of it.
After I taped him, I asked him how he felt (I really feel like a sensei now! hahahx~). He said there was no difference. I went "HUH. Are you sure? Like not even one BIT?" I got him to rate a number out of 10 for pain relief and while he was moving his arm around he replied 3.
Ok, 3 was pretty ok for a starter like me.. hahax.. Infact, the tapes are suppose to relief pain almost immediately. And if it didn't, it meant that the application isn't the right one for the problem.

After the trapezius method, I used the Neck tilting support application on him to try out if other methods would be better for his condition. Apparently, he said that the first taping method is way better than the 2nd one. So my 3rd taping on him goes back to Trapezius method and his pain reduced alot. He felt that the muscles are a lot more relaxed with the tape and there was almost no pain at all on my 3rd tape attempt on him. Did I just scored in taping? Lolx~

Next is self-taping. I had quite painful and rather irritating right knee problem which I experienced only recently. Because I was in crutches for 2 months with whole body weight put onto my right leg most of the time so the knee began to hurt and sometimes had this icy cold feeling around the joint (that's why irritating..).
This was my 1st attempt in self taping. I did the Knee Support/ACL Pain Relief application after I did my first Trapezius taping so I'm still learning how to gage the length of tape needed, hence ended up with a rather loooong one. Lolx~

After taping, I stood up and walked around and I could immediately felt less pain in that area. (Not totally relieved yet) The muscles felt relaxed and the knee was very well supported by the elastic tape. When I bent my knee and walked, I felt the tape gave a 'lifting' effect to my knee and reduced the pressure when I put my weight on my leg.

The tape stretched when I straighten my leg, which enables the knee 'lifting' effect.

I wore this for 4 days, always wore a long pants to cover it when I went out (in crutches) and still could feel the support on my knee clearly. Even in my crutches, I walked alot on certain days. The icy cold feeling at my joint was still there but less frequently felt.
Subsequently after taping it for another 2 rounds, my knee no longer has this pain anymore and at the same time I'd also started to walk without crutches so my weight had evenly distributed to both legs thus less pressure on my right knee.
Up to date, I experience no more pain at all for any of my knees even after I came back from my Korea Trip (alot of walking and stuffs right after my foot was healed!).
However I brought back this super painful back problem from Korea! *sobs* Probably caused by bad sleeping posture in the plane when returning to Singapore. I wanted to tape my back but there are some applications that needed someone else to tape it for you, just like the Trapezius method I did on my man. I would need to find someone who knows how to tape to tape for me because self-taping my own back is impossible.My thoughts on Acti-Tape:
- very easy to use once learnt the knowledge of doing it from the workshop
- easy to cut even with just normal scissors
- self tape is possible if area can be seen and reached
- self tape becomes very hard if certain area cannot be seen (eg Upper Arm Swelling Relief), I failed doing it on myself as I can't see where the tapes' end
- self tape will be good for those who are very flexible in their body and limbs (I am too rigid.. lolx)
- the tape doesn't cause any allergy on our skin
- the tape is easy to remove during bath when it's wet
- very hard to remove when its dry, it hurt rather badly as it will pluck off hair when I peel it off (it is really very sticky when applied correctly)
- last very long, can even last longer than 4 days
- the ends of the tapes & some of the edges fray sometimes
- requires at least more than 2 constant usage of Acti-Tape to see results (maybe because after a few rounds, the way of taping got better thus showing better results)

Flexi-Patch
I had not used this yet, but I would be trying it soon as I still have this little swell on my left foot where I fractured a toe bone. I'm unsure if this would work for post-swelling for fractured bone but anyways this wouldn't do harm to the body but only good (I think? ^^"), so I'll give it a try and see if there's any result to my swollen foot and also my back pain. *ouch while typing this*

All along I was rather skeptical about Detox foot patches, because I don't really believe in detox without consuming. Though I had doubts about it, I'd actually tried it once when I was sick (another brand). I'm not sure because I was already getting better or the patch really made me better. It's really hard to see for cases like these. hahax~
No matter, I'll still give Flexi-Patch a try since I heard people said it was REALLY good with my own ears when I was at the Acti-Tape workshop. Those are women who experienced water retention in their legs during pregnancy and they commented Flexi-Patch did worked for them. ^_^

Products name written and coloured in cyan are sponsored by Acti-Tape to me for trial & review only. I am not affiliated to the company. All photos (watermarked) are taken by me. Pictures (non-watermarked) and product details are from press release & Acti-Tape Website provided by Acti-Tape (NutriWorks).

About miwitch Blog & Disclosure

Based in Singapore (Summer all year round island ☼)
This is a Singapore Beauty, Fashion, Cosplay Blog

Be patient with me as I'm in the mid of moving my contents from my old onsugar blog to this New one!~

Pls reference to my info for the products I reviewed & refer to the disclaimer for the products I receive.
Product names coloured in cyan like so, are sponsored by the company for my consideration, trial, use or review.For advertorials, it will be stated in my blog post and/or tagged as "AD".